Wraith from the past: The Old King
by rockhard034
Summary: The dark king has risen. His return marks the end of the universe as we know it. Only one being can stop him, but he has long since abandoned our world. The prophecy foretells that Percy shall be the one who stops him, but Percy's death has already been decided, and the fates cannot control the old king. Can Percy and friends survive? NOT A CHAOS FIC.
1. Dark dreams

An endless abyss, with bloody rain falling down from a non-existent sky.

That's the first thing that Percy saw when he came to.

He heard whispers coming from the infinite darkness, a lot of them belonged to people he knew, but there' was one that immediately had all of his attention when he heard it.

It was his own voice.

It called out to him with longing in it's-. . . ..his voice. And so Percy went deeper into the abyss, looking for himself, not knowing what was waiting for him on the other side. Yet he did not feel any sort of nervousness or suspicion, in fact he felt apathetic. . . .. . .emotionless.

At the centre of the abyss he found himself lying down, beaten, crippled and on the verge of death.

Then, he stood up, without a limp or any sort of difficulty at all. This actually amazed Percy, because right now he looked even more worse for wear than he did when he went to Calypso's Island.

His body looked at him with a charming and apologetic grin. It appeared very unnerving on that broken, bleeding mouth of his.

Then suddenly the darkness of the abyss formed appendages and then moved towards his body. It rushed into his wounds and closed all them up. All of his broken bones healed themselves, and all of the dried up blood on his body instantly disappeared along with his bruises.

He then ran his hand through his messed up hair, and ruffled it till it took on a stylish executive feathered look. With a snap of his fingers his torn clothes shifted into something. . . .. . . more respectable. He now wore a silk black colored vest with a velvet tint, with sliver buttons that had a tribal design. Under it he wore a casual emerald blue cotton/polyester shirt. He also wore plain blue jeans, with black business shoes. Around his neck he wore an imperial gold necklace with a crystal angel pendant.

He whistled to catch Percy's attention. It was then that Percy looked into his eyes. They glowed dark purple with power.

'Show time.' He said. . . . . .And then the darkness consumed him.

Percy then burst out of his bed, drenched in cold sweat.

'What the Hades was that?. . . .'

He got out of bed and rubbed his eyes with his palms. He took a deep breath and squinted his eyes to see in the darkness.

It was 4:45 AM. Percy then let out a tired sigh and went to his cabinet to get his bottle of Aquafina.

He grunted in pain as he hit his toe into one of the legs of his bed. 'For the love of Posiedon. . . . .' He cursed, as he comically hopped to his cabinet.

The next morning he told Annabeth all about his strange dream over lunch. You see, Demi-god dreams weren't like an average mortals dreams. They were usually about the past, present or future, and were always about something that directly concerned them.

So, when a Demi-god had an extremely weird dream that creeped them out, like the one that Percy had, it was only natural that his girlfriend looked at him with concern practically pouring out her eyes.

'What do you think it means?' Percy asked Annabeth, with quizzical expression on his face.

Annabeth stayed silent with "that" contemplative look on her face for some time, too much time in Percy's opinion. And if it were possible Annabeth's unresponsiveness creeped him out more than the dream he had last night. She was usually quick to answer or at least put in some sort of input whenever he asked her anything, but now she was hesitating. . . . . . not really the best way to start off the day.

'Annabeth?' Percy asked softly, as he placed his hand on hers.

She snapped out of what ever little trance she was in and looked into his eyes.

'Percy, I really don't know. . . . . . . . . . . Do you think we should ask Chiron?'

'What? You don't know?! Annabeth (At this point he started to act like he was in turmoil. . .. .. . . He did a very bad acting job by the way)- the room-. .. . it's spinning !'

Annabeth however didn't find his thinly veiled attempt to lighten the mood even a teeny bit funny.

She lightly slapped his hand away with faint smile 'Seaweed brain.'

Okay may she DID find it a teeny bit funny.

Percy then looked into her eyes and made a fake pouting face .

One look at the stupid expression on his face made Annabeth crack up. Percy then smiled, hugged her and pecked her on the cheek.

Though Percy managed to lighten up the mood, he didn't get Annabeth to forget his little dream.

Right after lunch She told Percy to come with her to the big house, so that they could tell Chiron about the dream. Percy didn't argue, he didn't want to unnecessarily want to get everybody worked up over his dream, but he knew better. He guessed that it might be important – No, scratch that he had "that" feeling in his Demi-god gut that it was probably going TO BE important in the future.

**The Empire State building, 12:50 PM**

The receptionist at the empire state building really wished that his life was more interesting than it really was.

Right now, he was bored out of his mind. . . . .Yeah it really wasn't what he expected when he signed up to serve the Greek gods. When they had first contacted him and offered him the position as the guardian of the key and gate (or elevator in this case) to Olympus, he expected a little more action to his otherwise normal existence. He expected to get some sort of cool powers or-or something.. . . .. .But no, all he got was a key-card, yeah, have fun. . .. . .

The ringing of the reception bell broke him out of his thoughts. When he turned around he was shocked . .. . . .to see himself. But not quite himself.

The person in front of him had a very fit build, his face was more linear and thus (in his opinion) more handsome. He wore the suit, literally THE suit which he wanted to buy (and admired through a display case) for so long. Overall the person in front of him also had an air about him,. . . . . . .that of the casual charm and swagger of a playboy billionaire.

'Hey, you have the key to Olympus, right?' He even talked like him too.

The receptionist looked around before he leaned in and asked 'Are you a god?'

'Yeah, you mind giving me that keycard?'

'Sure,. . .. . .who are you by the way? If you don't mind me asking. . . .'

The stranger stretched out his hand in a gesture to shake hands.

'Wow, he's humble too. . . ..'

'Drake Allen' He said, with a smile.

'. . . . .. Drake Allen?. . . .. . That's my name too. . .. . .'

It was then that the receptionist woke up. He slept on the Job, again. Sloppy. . .. .sloppy, sloppy.. .. . .

But it wasn't quite the receptionist. He left his post, and entered the elevator. Half a minute later he was ascending the golden staircase towards Olympus. He opened the gate with a snap of his fingers and marveled at the beauty of the great kingdom.

He really had to hand it to Zeus, even though he's vain, he did a really good job at running the place.

Well, that was enough admiring the architecture. .. .and the Nymphs, it was time to send his message.

With a thought Drake's body turned into mist, and he entered the building where felt the power of Zeus' master bolt through the window.

There was no one there guarding it.

'Yep, good Ol' Zeus'

He walked towards the pedestal where master bolt was displayed in all of it's glory. The very second he touched it Zeus knew about his trespassing and the skies darkened with a lightning storm to reflect the gods anger.

But it really did not matter. Zeus was not fast enough to stop what happened next."Drake" raised the master bolt in both hands and brought it down on his knee, effectively snapping it in half.

The energy released from the bolts destruction leveled and completely obliterated at least half of Olympus, and that was only because Zeus held a huge portion of the energy back with his powers.

Weeks have now passed since the incident happened.

Because of the master bolts destruction the weather in the mortal world had always been screwy, since the event. Even though Zeus eventually calmed, he never understood why Drake (Yes, he did remember his name) had killed himself doing what he did.

He seemed like such a likable fellow.

* * *

**A/N: ** What do you guys think about it? And if you're wondering why I didn't go much into detail on the last half of the chapter, it was because it was getting late over here and that I didn't want to waste anybody's time describing things that you and me already know.

By the way, what do you guys think about my fic's cover? I put a good amount of effort into it. And personally I really think that it looks good. Not bad for someone who never used photoshop before, huh?

If there's anything you want me to correct PM me.

Later,

rockhard034


	2. The black sun

**Camp Half-Blood **

Camp half-blood was in chaos. Ever since the incident about the master bolt, Olympus has been in lockdown. Even Dionysus was called back to Olympus for what Chiron termed as "Important meetings". And for once, Dionysus actually looked regretful leaving camp Half-blood to go back to Olympus. It's probably because he knew that the meetings he were going to attend would just be Zeus yelling and berating everyone for the loss of the symbol of his power.

The horrible weather that had been plaguing the mortals ever since the bolt's destruction had started to make itself known in half-blood hill, despite it's magical boundaries/ weather system.

And poor Percy, because of his dream and the destruction of the bolt a day after it, had been forbidden to leave camp until further notice. Chiron was personally keeping an eye on him, and it really sucked.

Percy felt uncomfortable because of all the strange looks that the other campers had been giving him. Honestly, why did he always have be at the centre of everything when something went wrong? And the fact that he had "that" dream again last night really didn't make him feel any better. Couldn't he just live the rest of his life in peace?

Our green-eyed hero was in his cabin fiddling with his sword. There really wasn't anything better to do since all activities had stopped till Dionysus returned. Besides it was past curfew, and he really didn't want to hurt the harpies. It was dark in his room, with the only source of light being the bluish rays of the moon, coming from the windows.

He looked at the salt-water fountain in his room from his dad.

'_Should I try calling dad, and see what's going on in Olympus?' _But in the end he decided against it, figuring that his dad would probably be in a sour mood because of his meetings on Olympus.

He was tired and wanted to sleep, but it just didn't come to him. He needed to get some rest. It's been 5 days since he got some rest.

He capped his sword as he lied down. He put riptide into his pocket and closed his eyes.

15 minutes passed and he was still awake. He was getting irritated and he knew that it was definitely going to be harder to go to sleep. He tired slowing his breathing and listening to the beat of his heart.

2 minutes later he had that dream again and woke up from shock. It ended differently this time.

What did it mean?

* * *

**BOSTON PAST MID-NIGHT**

* * *

Oh, was Apollo going to be in trouble. Olympus was in lockdown under the order of an angry Zeus (And an angry Zeus was a shit-your-pants scary Zeus) and here he was taking his mortal lover back home in his sun chariot (Which was currently in the form of a red Lamborghini) . He and his lover were already in her neighborhood and it'd just be 5 more minutes to get her back home. Maybe he'd he'll see whether if she wanted any "company" for tonight.

No, he'd better not push his luck. He didn't really want to risk getting caught.

That damn bolt vandal caused him and everybody else so much trouble! Not only were they forbidden from interacting with their children, but the only time when they were let out to do anything was only when it involved their duties. It's been like this for two weeks now. And this sun god couldn't take it anymore. Like Athena says "recreational activities are refreshment for the mind, body and soul" (. . . .Whoa!) and he definitely needed that right now.

Apollo swore to himself that he would give Hypnos a nice, and he means a VERY nice present for Christmas this year, for putting Zeus into a deep sleep every time he went out in night. . . .. .and that held a lot of value, since he was also the god of truth.. . . .. .Well, at least most of the time. . . . .not with what he's doing now exactly. . .. .

'This really was a great date, Jason. We should do it again soon.' Apollo's mortal lover said.

'Sure, bab- Uhm, Listen I'm going to be on trip with the family for a week. .. . or less, I'll text you when I'm available.'

She pouted. But she decided to give him his personal space,. . . . .. besides her clinginess is what scared away her last boyfriend.

Apollo knowing what she was thinking grinned and quickly gave her a peck on the lips.

He didn't see the person waiting in middle of the road for him.

Drake looked at the speeding Lamborghini with a monotone face. He needed to get rid of the pesky sun god if his plans were to come into fruitation.

He stood in the sun's way without any hesitation. He met the glaring headlights with confidence. He outstretched his hand to meet the vehicle.

Apollo noticed him too late. There was no time to turn or anything. The sun chariot met the man head-on, and he with unbelievable strength caught it's hood and flipped it over him with the palm of his hand.

The car flew 20 feet away and landed upside-down . A shower of sparks flew off the sides of the roof as it skidded along the road for another 10 feet.

"Drake" sighed as he walked slowly towards the sun chariot.

He raised a brow as he saw the sun god crawl out of the car and then help his human lover out. With a snap of his fingers the mortal screamed as the darkness of the night consumed her.

'JEANNE!' Apollo screamed as he clawed at the air in the spot she was standing in a bit earlier. He then glared at the man-No, Apollo already knew that he was probably dealing with another god, the question was who this god actually is.

'What did you do to her!?'Apollo questioned, all the mirth lost from his eyes. They were now replaced by anger.

Drake just continued casually walking towards the sun god. It was only in the light of the moon did Apollo see how. . . .. . . . unnaturally dark his eyes looked.

'Why don't you try and feel for her.' It wasn't a question.

'What?'

'You have senses don't you? Why don't you use them to feel the presence of your little mortal. . . . . .toy.' There was no arrogance or attitude in his voice, It was leveled and neutral.

Apollo didn't trust the being, but he used his other senses (while not letting his guard down) and let out a sigh of relief as he felt back in her home asleep.

'It's quite a useful thing that you and your kin created. . . . .the mist. I think I'll keep it. After I'm done with all of you, that is.'

'Thanks, but it's not for sale. It's too useful for something like that'

Yes, it was, it's the only reason that there wasn't a huge crowd of mortals surrounding them, right now. And the fact that there was no one else out on the street really helped too.

'My dear little sun god. Who ever said anything about me having your permission to use it? I'm going to take it.. . . . .'

'Watch your tongue. I am an Olympain!'

'Yes, and I ruled this Universe many millennia before your feared grandpa was even born. . . .'

This little bit of information made Apollo pale. If he was older than Kronus that meant he was a primordial god. And though he was confident, he wasn't vain or foolish enough to believe that he stood a fighting chance against one alone. But something didn't make sense. He knew the man in front of him. He was Drake Allen the receptionist at the Empire State Buliding, the destroyer of the bolt. He was just an average mortal, with no sort of blood tie to any god. Yet he was hosting a primordial god without breaking down from his or her power. That only meant one thing he wasn't that strong. And Apollo knew right away that was just a load of bullcrap, from what he'd seen this person do.

'Little Drake isn't melting is because unlike you and your kin I have perfect control over my strength and aura.'

Crap, he could read Apollo's thoughts, even though the sun god was trying to block him out . And that little fact right there spoke volumes about this being's power.

Apollo knew that fighting him was a lost cause. Even though he might not be at full power in a mortal vessel. He tried to teleport away and warn the other Olympains about this new adversary. . .. ..only to find that he couldn't. The darkness, it was blocking him somehow.

It was then that Apollo truly ever came close to taking a dump in his pants out of fear. He knew this god's identity. The way his opponent's eyes briefly squinted in frustration only confirmed his theory.

'And I was so hoping that I could get you step down from your position civilly. But now, you have to die' He knew it'd be no use to try and win Apollo to his side from the very beginning. He was too loyal.

Apollo quickly summoned his bow and shot a fire arrow which burned with the intensity of the sun at the old king. When it hit Drake it exploded with flames instantly consumed the being's bod- . . . .. host's body. Apollo thought that it would serve as a good distraction so he could teleport back to Olympus, but the darkness was still blocking him.

Apollo gasped as he saw the sun fire die down, and the old king looking at him which an apathetic face, unharmed.

'Not bad, I really didn't expect such a strong attack from you. . .. . Well, it didn't fulfill it's purpose, but still pretty damn good. .. . . . . Now let me show you how I punished insubordinates, back in my day.'

He snapped his fingers, and watched apathetically as Apollo screamed in pain.

Light practically exploded out of his eyes and mouth. His skin cracked away, with golden light bursting from the cracks. And finally with a small explosion Apollo exploded and faded away in a golden flow of light.

The Old king grunted as he took a couple of deep breaths. It took more energy than he thought it would to obliterate Apollo. The sun god was much more powerful than he gave him credit for.

After a few seconds he walked over to the sun chariot, touched it and teleported out of there with it. He needed to get some rest. . . . .and a true body back. But it wasn't like Olympus was going to chase him immediately.

Tomorrow Olympus would mourn for the dead sun god, and Artemis would be in grief over her dead brother.

* * *

**A/N: **Can anybody guess who the old king is? Correct person get's cookies (::)

Hopefully this chapter met expectations, and remember to review.

Till next time,

rockhard034


	3. The calm before the storm

Camp Half-Blood was restless today. Everyone was talking about the death of the sun god.

How did they know? Dionysus told Chiron, and Chiron told the rest of the camp because he felt it that it was of the upmost importance that the campers know about some unknown threat that could actually kill an Olympian!

If you're wondering why nobody noticed right away, it was because Helios retook his old position by decree of the Olympians. He was doing a good job so far, but without the sun chariot it would only be a matter of time before the earth got covered in complete and endless darkness.

Now everybody was on high alert, and rumors about Percy's dreams started spreading throughout camp two days after Apollo's death. How did everyone else find out about it? Percy's money was on one of the Stoll's overhearing one of his, Chiron's and Annabeth's discussions on his dreams.

Despite this Chiron felt that it was okay for everyone to know about his dreams now, hoping that it would put everyone else on higher alert and possibly encourage any of the other campers to inform him if anybody else got any sort of dreams similar to Percy. Chiron needed to know who was doing all of this, in order to take proper action, and right now the details that he got from Percy's dream were too vague to come to any sort of final conclusion. He knew a lot of powerful beings that were associated with darkness.

The thing about spreading rumors about Percy's dream might have been Ok for Chiron, but Percy really hated it. Everybody stopped giving him weird looks, now they tended to go silent AND THEN stare at him, when he passed by . They did this when they were usually in groups, and it really creeped him out whenever they just stopped whatever they were doing to just stare at him like that. Okay they might be worried, but being a little bit more social would really help him to not feel awkward. For the love of Posiedon, why did he always have to be in the centre of every big prophecy that comes around? Like if the first war against Kronus, and second great war against the giants and Gaea weren't enough! Couldn't he just live a life of peace? It was times like these he wished that he was back in camp Jupiter.

After a tiring and irritating day Percy decided to go back to his cabin.

It has actually been two days since he slept. His dreams started to get worse, and unlike the first week he started having them, they started to end differently. . . .. .each and every time now. What did it mean? He tried asking Chiron, and Chiron just said that it was a bad omen. Like Percy couldn't have figured that out by himself.

It was starting to get unbearable at camp, he was supposed to go back home two hours ago to celebrate his mom's birthday, only for news of Apollo's death to reach camp. Why did he have the sick feeling that Dionysus just waited for that exact time to tell Chiron about Apollo's demise, just so he could mess with him?

Old drunk.

Thunder rumbled in the sky and then Percy saw a dirty, hungry rat flying around his head.

'I'm sorry! Sheesh!'

The sky became tranquil once again, and the rat disappeared.

He walked back to his cabin with Annabeth. It was starting to get dark outside. He kissed her goodnight and then parted ways.

He really had much to thank Annabeth for. She had been his source of strength and comfort for the last few days. He honestly didn't know what he'd do without her.

The very second he entered his cabin tiredness washed over like a tidal wave.

That was strange. He had become so used to the sleepless nights that he thought that it would have at least taken him another 4 hours or so to even consider going to bed. This time however it was actually like sleep was welcoming him for a change.

His legs moved on their own as he inched straight towards his bed, eyelids getting heavier, and his breathing getting more relaxed with every step he took.

Then without any hesitation he plopped straight down into bed.

His breathing eventually slowed down to a sedate pace, and then he let the darkness take him. But then something happened, the pace of his breathing returned to normal and he felt all the tiredness wash away from him. The silent atmosphere of his cabin was replaced by the busy ruckus of a kitchen as the smell of fresh coffee entered his nostrils.

When Percy opened his eyes he was standing in a busy diner, still in his camp outfit. He could tell because it had the look of a typical old fashioned diner. . . . .duh.

He looked outside a window to see that it was still dark out. What was he doing here?

He stiffened as he felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked back to see a middle-aged, kind-looking waitress smiling at him.

'Excuse me, young man. But that gentleman over there said that he'd like to talk to you.' She pointed over to the counter where a lone man in a black overcoat was sitting.

Percy thanked the waiter, and took a deep breath before he approached the man. Percy had been through enough weird adventures to guess that a god had probably summoned him here. It was the only logical explanation.

He stood behind the man and asked 'You wanted to talk to me?'

The god then slowly turned his head to look at Percy. He looked like he was in his twenties or thirties and had dirty blonde hair. His face was rugged with a stubble. Under his black overcoat he wore a white turtle neck, with black silk pants, a belt that had a silver devil head for a buckle, and black loafers. But his most distinctive feature were his eyes, the Irises were golden-yellow, while the pupils were red, like the blazing fires of hell.

'Yes, please sit.' The god said as he pointed to the stool next to him.

Percy did as asked and looked at him. Just then the waitress appeared on the other side of the counter and asked 'What will you boys be having?'

'I'll have the Steak, Barbeque burger and Lime soda. My friend here will have the Blueberry pie and Strawberry milk shake.' The god said.

'Wait, I really don't want anything!' Percy called out to the waitress, who was already walking to the kitchen with their orders.

'Are you sure, Percy? You didn't eat much at lunch and dinner today . . . . .nor the past few days, for that matter.'

The god spoke the truth. Percy's lack of sleep had messed with his appetite, and as a result he had been feeling very weak and grumpy for the past week. And now that he was here he didn't feel any of the tiredness

'. .. . .Okay, cancel that, I'll have what he said.' Percy said to the waitress, who smiled and then walked back to the kitchen.

Once she was out of sight and making sure nobody else was listening Percy looked at the god and asked 'Why did you bring me here? More importantly why did you bring me here?'

'I go by many names. .. . .but my favorite has always been Tartarus. And as to why I brought you here, I wanted to discuss something of great Importance with you. .. . . . .. .. . I also like the black forest cake and the fast service here a lot, too.' Tartarus said the last bit as though it were an afterthought.

His honesty surprised Percy. Percy had expected some sort of cryptic nonsense from him (from experience), just like how any other god would normally answer back. And it was shown clearly on his face. . .. . along with fear. What did a primordial god want with him?! He knew that he had to be very respectful for the next few minutes, he was in the presence of one of the most powerful beings in the universe, and besides if he brought him here to take revenge on him for hurting his wife (Gaea) he knew he was absolutely screwed, and that no one could save him right now.

Tartarus hearing his thoughts raised his hand to calm him down. Even though it had the opposite effect, and made him tense up.

'Please Percy, If I wanted to destroy you I could have done it anytime I wanted to. Besides that thing with me Gaea was-How do the humans put it? Oh, yes, So one millennium ago. So you have nothing to fear.'

The two were interrupted from conversing further because their food had arrived. That was quick, really quick.

Tartarus then took his attention off Percy and picked up a fork to eat. Percy who suddenly got very hungry decided to do the same.

They spent the next few minutes eating. But not in silence Tartarus asked Percy different things like what had happened in the mortal world in his absence. He explained that he had been in his domain ever since the ancient times (Plus, he was never interested in mortal affairs in the past), and this was the first time he ever stepped out of his domain out of necessity.

Honestly he was very surprised by how much Humans had developed from where they were back in the old days. And he was really loving all their food so far, and most shockingly (Well to Percy, at least) he said that he had also grown a deep fondness for movies, videogames and soccer. It had been 4 days since he left his domain (taking a break from punishing the wicked down in Tartarus), and he hadn't gone back since.

Percy answered his questions to the best of his abilities, and eventually worked up the guts to ask him why he'd been called here for. Tartarus look surprised, How could he just let the topic of the conversation wander like that? He needed to get his mind off the marvels of the modern mortal age, and get back to the reason why he had left his domain for the first time in centuries.

He wasted no time in trying to butter up the matter at hand up and said flat out,'I'm here because Erebus killed your sun god. The entire underworld, including Tartarus is talking about his death. And before you ask me how I know it's Erebus, it's because I know his style.'

Quite naturally Percy was lost for words. Once he regained his composure he was about to retort. . . . .loudly. But before he could make a scene Tartarus made a closing motion with his hand which prevented the flustered Demi-god from making any noise. Once Percy relaxed Tartarus relaxed his hand, allowing him to speak once more.

Percy took a deep breath before he looked at the lord of hell and asked 'How and Why did Erebus kill him? What's he up to? And why did he choose now of all times to show up?' But mostly Percy wanted to know the answer to the last question. Why couldn't they choose some other century than his own to rise and start a war?

'The Olympians and the titans are not truly Immortal, Percy. They are not manifestations of eternal forces like me and the rest of the priomordials, they can be killed, it's just that they are just very hard to kill. As to why he killed the sun god is because he probably wanted to get rid of the oracle Delphi and the sun. And judging by your dreams he's trying to prevent a prophecy, which involves you, from happening.'

'What prophecy?'

'I don't know, it was never made.' Tartarus said simply.

'Wait,the oracle of Delphi is gone? Then what about Rachel!' Percy regrettably wasn't keeping contact with her. What was she doing? He suddenly remembered her telling him something about summer school. Oh gods, he hoped that she was alright.

'Don't worry about your friend, she's safe, I've been keeping an eye on her too. And there's no need to thank me, It just happens that we have the same enemy, for the time being.' Tartarus said, after savouring and swallowing the last bit of his cake.

Percy let out a sigh of relief and then took a sip of his milkshake. He needed something to calm his nerves.

'So do you know what they mean?' Percy asked.

'Your dreams? Well I do have an Idea, but I'm not willing to share them with you just yet.'

Oh isn't this just great?

'There's no need to be snarky, Percy. I do have my reasons.' Tartarus said, completely ignoring Percy's attitude.(Well, most other gods would have been reprimanding the son of Posiedon now.)

Percy was about to ask Tartarus another question, but then he put his forefinger on Percy's forehead. Percy grunted as he felt a sharp jolt of pain in his head.

Tartarus then removed his finger, finished the last of his drink, paid for both their meals, then got up to leave the diner and said 'There, those dreams won't be bothering you anymore, because I'll be having them instead.'

He saw the look on Percy's face.

'Don't worry, I'll summon you again when I have something Important to share with you.' He said in his usual sardonic tone. 'For now finish your meal and go back to sleep. If I know Erebus, you're going to need to be at the peak of your strength for the days to come.' He then turned, and walked towards the exit.

There were a number of questions that Percy wanted to ask the ancient god, but only one escaped his lips in the heat of the moment.

'Wait' Tartarus stopped and turned 'Why are you helping me?'

Tartarus looked a little hesitant, but he answered anyway 'Erebus once ruled this universe, he once ruled over me. . . . .and trust me when I say that he was a _very_ bad king.'

Having said that he turned back and walked through the doors of the Diner, while Percy watched him leave with a mystified expression on his face.

After a second or two Percy turned back to the last of his food and gulped down the rest of his shake. The very second he got off his stool after he was done, he found himself back in the darkness of his room.

Tiredness washed over him, where did all the energy he had a few minutes ago. . .. . .well, go? He was tired to question himself, too tired to think. He walked towards his bed and plopped on it without taking off his shoes or anything.

And for the first time in weeks Percy had a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

**MIDDLE OF A FIELD IN KASAS**

Erebus in the body of Drake Allen was waiting for the clouds to block out the moon. He needed to do this in complete darkness if this was to work.

The very second the moon got blocked out and engulfed the land in complete darkness, Erebus started concentrating on the darkness around him and all the darkness in the pit of Tartarus.

That's strange he didn't feel Tartarus down there in his domain. Since when did he ever take a break? Anyway it's a good thing that he wasn't there, this process was going to be a whole lot easier now.

It took him a couple of seconds but he finally felt "his" essence down there. It was spread very thinly and very far, but Erebus was sure he could pull it all back together again.

The ground in front of him cracked with golden light as the blinding golden energy of Kronus tore out of the earth, straight from the dreaded pits of Tartarus.

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**A/N**: What do you guys think about my new story cover? Sure the angel doesn't look as epic as the last one, but I was pissed when I clicked on the cover of my story to only see that 75% of the background (which was a cool apocalyptic broken down city in an endless night). This new looks more apocalyptic in my opinion. And kinda hints towards what's going to happen (But, only Kinda).

Anyway what do you guys think about the chapter? Tell me about it.

Till we see each other again,

rockhard034


	4. The bait

Before this chapter begins, I'd like to clear up a few things about this fic's writing style because some of you guys asked.

'Single quotes is used for normal conversation and dialogue'

"Double quotes specify something"

And thoughts are described in the paragraphs after some dialogue. But I will change that. From now on (AFTER this chapter) this story shall be truly told in a third person point of view, so thoughts are never going to be mentioned from now on. I think that it might even add a little suspense here and there, at certain parts of the fic.

Now that's over with, let's get on with the fic.

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Erebus stared at the being in front of him with an nonchalant face. So this is what the once mighty Kronus had been reduced to- -A golden nightlight. Though Kronus' golden, ethereal essence which sparked with power was the farthest thing from NOT intimidating.

The now scorched ground from which his essence was forcefully pulled through looked like a 2 foot high, 6 foot wide mini-volcano, which led to hell. . . . . .and in this case it really did lead to hell. And above the infernal hole floated the essence of Kronus, which was barred to it's location by a tornado of darkness.

Erebus didn't even bother closing the doorway to Tartarus. He knew that anything that crawled out through it, as well as the opening itself, would keep the Olympians busy for a while. He didn't like hiding from people who were far weaker than him, but till he got a proper body back he would always only be at 50% of his original strength.

The air grew stronger, not only in weight but also with the stench of evil. Kronus' maliciousness was deeply ingrained into his very soul's aura, and it gave the air a very thick, sickly and slimy feel to it. Erebus didn't even seem fazed by the change in the atmosphere, but the plants in the field did.

All of the surrounding vegetation wilted and rotted away at an insane rate, and though the body of Drake Allen seemed unharmed, the clothes he was wearing started to burn off. Erebus regarded this predicament with a raised brow.

One of the functions of the dark tornado surrounding the essence of Kronus besides keeping it in it's place, and re-forming Kronus, was to prevent his aura from destroying the entire field.

Was Kronus really that much stronger than he gave him credit for? Or was being in a host limiting him that severely? The very thought made the old king narrow his eyes in both annoyance and anger. And with the way Kronus' reforming essence was lighting up the whole field and Erebus himself, his unnatural purple eyes at that moment, in the eerie golden light of Kronus made the old king more intimidating than the essence in front of him.

It sounded like a tornado was passing through the countryside as Kronus reformed. His resurrection caused a small storm in the area. And when the air finally calmed down Erebus regarded the Titan lord with a charming smile on his host's face, and a very intimidating look in his unnatural, purple eyes.

The spirit of Kronus looked dazed. Erebus tried reading his mind only to see everything blurred and mixed up. Of course, he had almost expected this, with the very quick reformation that Kronus went through. It probably felt like being rudely awakened from a very deep sleep, while you were drunk. Erebus decided to give Kronus a little time to collect himself, and take the time to clean his host up.

His clothes were ashen and tattered, with huge holes at some places. But it didn't matter, with a thought all the ash and grime faded from his appearance, along with his tattered clothes. His hair was slicked back by some unknown forces, and his previous attire was replaced by the suit that his host had always wanted to wear, the same suit he visited his host in his dream. Erebus also cooled down the earth, which now looked like magma courtesy of Kronus' essence, because it kept melting and enflaming his shoes.

It took a few minutes, but after what felt like an hour of waiting Kronus finally pulled himself straight and took in his surroundings. He didn't try to hide his surprise at seeing a barrier holding him and a mortal in front of him.

Mortal? Kronus mentally slapped himself for his rare moment of stupidity. There was no way that the person in front of him was some sort of mortal, even though his aura felt like one's. Deciding on not wasting any more time Kronus tried to mentally communicate with the person in front of him. . . . . .Only to run into a small problem. When he tried to look into the person's mind and soul he was blocked. Like the person in front of him was resisting.

Erebus looked at the Titan king with a knowing smile and then snapped his fingers, making an unconscious, pale(er than usual) Nico suddenly merge out of the shadows from his side. The dark tornado then suddenly bent into an arc, with it's top end lapping over Nico, effectively forming a bridge between Kronus and Nico.

Kronus knew what this meant, and then quickly rushed and entered the body of the son of Hades.

Sparks of golden energy erupted from Kronus' essence as he entered the child's body through his mouth, nose, ears and eyes. After he completely entered Nico's body, his body's flesh was illuminated from the inside by a golden light for ten seconds. It was a very unnerving sight since his skeleton was visible through the glowing, illuminated flesh. But it disappeared, along with the glow, after Kronus was done taking over.

The possession was quite effortless. Nico being unconscious really did help with the matter. Kronus stood up and stretched. He then yawned as if he had suddenly woken up from a nap, which technically speaking was true in both his and Nico's (body's) cases.

Kronus was surprised by how sturdy this child's body was. He had expected it to start degrading by this point, but it was holding strong. .. . .for the moment. Child of Hades or not, it wouldn't be able to handle the Titan king's essence for a prolonged period of time.

'Ah, I see that the body suits you well. I knew that I made the right choice.' Erebus said, bringing Kronus out of his musings.

Kronus narrowed his eyes, in both confusion and suspicion. He circled around the old king, eyeing him top from bottom, while Erebus just stood still, with an air of calmness surrounding him.

And that really ticked Kronus off, and the way that the person didn't keep his eyes on him obviously gave off the notion that he wasn't scared of him. But it also gave Kronus a very valuable piece of information. The person In front of him obviously thought that he was stronger than him.

Kronus then stood in front of Erebus and looked him straight in the eyes. He took note of the strange purple aura emitted by them.

Kronus' now golden eyes flared for a moment before he said 'You're not mortal, but neither are you God or Titan. . .. . . .Your eyes have the same look of my mother and father's. You can control the dark, but you are definitely not Nyx.' He then squinted his eyes, and leaned in closer, before asking 'Are you. . ..?'

'Yes.' Erebus finished, before Kronus could complete what he was about to say.

Kronus was a little taken aback, surprise clearly shown in his golden eyes. But he did not bow down to Erebus. See, Kronus was a master manipulator and had a very keen mind-despite having his real physical brain chopped to little tiny bits by Zues-and he knew that if Erebus had gone through the trouble of resurrecting him, while not simply consuming his scattered weak essence and becoming stronger himself, then he definitely needed him for something.

'Correct again, Titan lord.'

Kronus became irritated. He didn't like the idea of anybody being able to look into his mind.

'Well, cut to the chase, what do you want from me!?'

Erebus just smiled at the Titan's comment and said 'I need you gather those who are still loyal to you, and make some noise for me, so that I can have more than enough time for my big comeback.'

Kronus raised his brow 'That's it?. . . .'

Erebus gave Kronus a look, which said "What else did you expect?"

'You raised me, the Lord of Time, TO BE A DISTRACTION?!'

Erebus grabbed the Titan king's throat and brought him down to his knees, with a look of cold apathy on his face. Kronus tried to break Erebus' grip, but he was too strong.

'Don't raise your voice at me, you ungrateful piece of garbage. If it wasn't for me you'd still be dust in the winds of Tartarus.' He let what he said sink in before he continued. 'Listen, I know that you're. . .. . .. . . . .pride makes you dislike this _little _job that I'm giving you, but know this, serve me well and I will make it worth your while in this new world I'm going to create. Sure, you'll be under management for the first, No, second time in your existence, but look at your alternatives-' At this point Erebus let out a cruel chuckle, and said '-It's still better than any sort of any other deal on the proverbial table, now that I'm back!'

Erebus then let go of Kronus' throat, and watched as the titan lord wheezed and gasped for air. Kronus might have been an Immortal who didn't need to breathe, but that still didn't change the fact that he was in a mortal body, right now. He needed to get back his true body, till then, he'd never be at his full strength.

Kronus gasped for air for a few seconds, before slowly getting back on his feet, while glaring at the king of darkness. That was about all he could do right now, the only way Kronus could beat Erebus was if gained back his true body or if he attained _the_ perfect vessel, and Erebus was still stuck in his current host.

'Now that we cleared out any remaining doubts about your place in my little play. . . . . .. . . . .. . I'm sure that Olympus is going to be an easy picking for the both of us.' Erebus said, while straightening out the vest of his suit.

Kronus begrudgingly nodded his head in broken acceptance. He would so enjoy destroying Erebus, when and if the opportunity ever presented itself.

Erebus narrowed his eyes at Kronus for the moment, hearing his treacherous thoughts. Kronus having a good idea why Erebus had such a reaction tensed for a very brief moment out of fear. Only to be confused as Erebus suddenly grinned.

'Oh, buck up, boy!' Erebus said with a toothy grin. 'So I might have hurt your feelings about not being able to be the boss anymore, but let's not let that interfere with our plans for destroying Olympus. Come it's a new day, and now that I'm by your side, there's no way that you're going to fail a second time.'

Kronus just glared at the ground, not wanting to offend the primordial in front of him, anymore than he already had But he eventually looked up and opened his mouth to speak, Erebus knew what he was going to ask but he decided to let the Titan lord continue and finish anyway, deciding not to irritate him anymore. He might as well start learning to put up with him, right now.

'Why exactly do you need me for the distraction? You could have gotten my remaining acolytes to work you and only you directly!'

Erebus looked at Kronus with an "Isn't that obvious?" look.

'Easy, child. If they know that you're behind it, that will take any and all of their attention away from me. Besides they'll be extra paranoid and attentive to whatever you're doing, considering that Apollo, Ares and Hera are out of the picture.'

'How?' Kronus asked, intrigued. If Erebus was behind their apparent deaths, then it really wasn't that hard for the Titan king to swallow this new piece of information.

'Well, I personally took care of Apollo' Erebus said, as if it were some sort of small task. 'Hera and Ares were conveniently taken care of, when I destroyed Zues' precious little bolt, along with half of Olympus.'

At this point Kronus gave Erebus a grin of satisfaction and. . . .. . appraisal. Anybody who could screw with his treacherous son in such a way instantly earned a couple of brownie points from him.

'So Olympus had lost not one, but three Olympians! I'm surprised that you brought me back at all, you definitely don't seem to need me for a distraction. Olympus is probably in complete disarray, right now!'

Erebus looked at Kronus with an apathetic face and said 'Hera and Ares are not dead. They just don't have physical bodies anymore, like you. They are fully capable of taking on hosts. In fact I think that the remaining Olympians are still considering whether to make Ares take the body of one of his Demi-god sons. So far Ares is refusing, even though his selected son is a perfect vessel for him! His body would be able to completely handle Ares' essence, even if he went into his true form, not to mention that Ares would not be limited in the boy's body in any sort of way if he took over.'

'So Hera still exists.. . . .. . .' Kronus said, with a certain amount of rage in his voice. He really didn't care about Apollo or Ares that much, but he was very happy when he thought that Hera had died, only to be robbed of that pleasure in a matter of seconds. Hera and the rest of her siblings would all pay for the sins that they had committed against him!

Kronus stopped brooding after a few seconds, and then looked at Erebus.

'What will you have me do with my acolytes first?' Kronus asked, with steely determination in his eyes.

Erebus smiled.

'I want you to take over the Underworld, and bring me Hades soul.'

Kronus' scythe then appeared in Erebus' left hand after he finished the sentence.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare woke up sweating in her dorm room. She saw the exchange between the two old kings, because despite Apollo's death and the oracle spirit's disappearance she still had precognitive dreams.

What she saw terrified her. Olympus was in deep trouble, with Kronus back. . .. . . . . .and whoever it was that was talking with him.

But little did she know that Erebus knew that she was watching him.

Meanwhile, back in camp Half-blood, Percy was thrashing around in bed, asleep. He was having a terrifying dream where Rachel was eaten alive by the darkness. Tartarus may have taken away those dreams where he was killed and resurrected by the darkness over and over again, but not this.

Rachel's death would serve as a driving force for Percy to recklessly rush in and find her killer. Erebus knew this. He will force the boy to face him earlier, and unprepared, Just like he wanted Percy to.

Erebus was waiting for our young hero, with a smile on his face. He wanted to make a point with Percy's demise, not just in the physical sense. No, before that Erebus would have the pleasure of killing him mentally .

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**A/N**: Well, that's another chapter done! And I must say that I'm VERY satisfied with this chapter!

For those of you, who are confused as to why I'm announcing Hera's and Ares' condition right now is because I thought "Half of Olympus was obliterated in the first chapter, and no one important got caught in the explosion!", besides Ares using a host might become an Important plot point in the future.

I think that I'm building up Erebus' character fairly well, and with the music "**Dante's Inferno Soundtrack (CD2) - Crossing the Styx (Track #4)**" playing in the background, I couldn't help but feel that this chapter served it's purpose VERY well, despite my intentions of originally making it longer.

In fact, you people know something? From now on "**Dante's Inferno Soundtrack (CD2) - Crossing the Styx (Track #4)**" is going to be Erebus' theme song for this fic! So, if you guys want to listen to it, you might want to head on over to Youtube.

Oh, and a very Important thing, How many of you guys like my current writing style? I know I promised that the next chapter will be in true third person, but I feel that my current one helps to spread messages more easier. In fact I fear that the third person style of writing might even make what is supposed to be actual important plot points feel like plot holes for some readers, without the narrative.

So, what do you guys think? Keep the current writing style or go with the true third person for the next chapter? Leave it in a review, please.

Till next time,

rockhard034


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